This invention relates to telephones with answering machine capability and, more particularly, to such a telephone system having the capability of providing an automatic callback to a caller who leaves a recorded message.
The provision of automatic callback arrangements is known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 5,185,782 to Srinivasan describes a callback arrangement for an automatic call distribution system which collects and stores the telephone numbers from which calls are incoming, estimates how long each call will have to hold in a cue before being answered and, if the waiting time exceeds a predetermined maximum, prompts the caller to choose between holding or receiving a return call. If the caller chooses a return call, the system prompts the caller for a callback time and time period. Thereafter, the system places an outgoing call to the stored telephone number when the callback time arrives. This action is repeated, periodically, until the call is either answered or a callback time period expires.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,850,435 to Devillier describes a telephone system wherein a caller initiates a call to a subscriber and further provides an audible caller name to the subscriber. Upon hearing the caller""s name, the subscriber may either accept the call or reject it. In one embodiment, the incoming call names are placed on a call list, with the subscriber being able to later access the call name list and to make the calls to telephone numbers corresponding to the names on the list.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,152 to Miller provides a telephone customer with access to a memorized list of calls which the customer had previously been unable to answer. When an incoming call is not answered, the caller""s number is entered on the customer""s callback list. The customer is later advised of the calling numbers and is then able to signal for automatic placement of a return call.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,481,382 to Villa-Real describes a telephone set which may be programmed with data corresponding to one or more telephone numbers to be called and the time and date at which such telephone calls are to be placed. The telephone includes an alarm which signals when one of the telephone numbers is to be called.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,051 to Muppidi et al. describes a system and method for connecting an incoming telephone call to a cordless telephone. When the incoming call is received, identifying information for the cordless telephone, along with the callback number, is transmitted using a paging signal. A base station that locates the cordless telephone by then calling a switch utilizing the callback identifier, the base station is able to complete the call.
In currently available telephone answering machines, provision is made to record a message from the incoming caller and for the called party to retrieve and listen to the message. When the telephone further includes caller identifier capabilities, the calling number can be displayed to the called party. If the called party wishes to return a call to the calling party, the called party is required to dial the displayed number after the message has been completed or stopped by the called party. Such action may result in an error being made in entering the calling number.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved telephone/answering machine system wherein a user is enabled to automatically return a call to a calling party without having to manually input the calling party""s phone number.
The method of the invention enables an automatic callback to a calling telephone whose caller has left a recorded message. In response to a received call, an identifier of the calling telephone is stored along with the message from the caller. Thereafter, the called party is enabled to play the message left by the caller and is further enabled to enter a callback signal during the playing of the message. This action causes the message playback to be interrupted, the identifier to be recalled from memory and used to automatically place a call to the calling telephone whose message was interrupted.